August Home CEO: Consumers will embrace in-home access for service providers if we can build trust

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As the volume of products and services consumers buy online continues to skyrocket, companies are looking for ways to streamline fulfillment and make it simpler for customers to receive what they’ve paid for. One way they can transform this process is by using smart locks, which consumers are installing in ever-increasing quantities. These devices can enable remote access for service and delivery personnel, introducing a new way for them to drop off a package or complete a task at a consumer’s home.

Business Insider Intelligence recently spoke with August Home cofounder and CEO Jason Johnson about the company’s August Access program, which allows companies to partner with the smart lock vendor to get access to consumers’ homes to deliver goods or provide services. We discussed the origins of the company’s August Access system, as well as how it approached early trials with retail and e-commerce partners. Additionally, we talked about the future of in-home access programs and consumer attitudes toward the new approach. Below are some of the highlights of our conversation.

The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Business Insider Intelligence (BII): How did August decide to develop an in-home access program?

Jason Johnson (JJ): So, it really came from the beginning. When we started to make the August Smart Lock, we knew that people would want to stop using their keys to enter their own homes, but we also knew they would want to give access to friends, family, and other third parties, like dog walkers and house cleaners, who might normally have a key. August Access is basically our access control in the cloud, with these third-party hooks that allow access for dog walkers, house cleaners, delivery companies, home repair services — essentially any business that needs to get access into your home to do the service that you hired them to do. [...]